A WOMAN says she was “cooked from the inside out” after taking anti-depressants.
Charlotte Gilmour suffered a severe reaction to lamotrigine – used to treat epilepsy and low mood in people with bipolar disorder – which left her covered in agonizing blisters.
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The 23-year-old told Stuff: “I looked in the mirror and burst into tears.
“I think subconsciously he knew it was something very serious.”
Charlotte, from Palmerston North, New Zealand, had been battling a chest infection for several weeks before waking up with a painful rash on her body.
She rushed to the hospital, where nurses diagnosed her with Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS), a rare but serious condition caused by the body’s overreaction to medications, especially epilepsy medications, antibiotics, and anti-inflammatory pain relievers such as ibuprofen.
The problem was that the staff didn’t know how to treat it and without treatment it can be life threatening.
Charlotte said: “It was scary, I guess, to hear, ‘OK, nobody knows much about this.’
“But the scariest part is that I was burned from the inside out, so all the burns on the outside were because my insides were so burned that it started to show on the outside of my skin.
“The rash had started to take over my body.
“It was like my arm had been burned. I could also feel the bone at the top of my mouth because the gums had died.”
The blisters in her digestive tract were so bad that she had to be connected to a feeding tube.
Charlotte, who had “never been so scared”, was also put on steroids, but they didn’t seem to help.
He quickly lost his vision and desperately tried to stay awake for five days straight.
“I was so terrified that if I went to sleep I wouldn’t wake up,” she told 1News.
Fortunately, after 30 days of treatment, Charlotte was discharged, but still has some symptoms.
“I still get blisters in my eyes and the rash breaks out, always in the same place where it was the worst burn,” she said.
She, however, has a new outlook on life.
“I’m so grateful for the little things that I used to take for granted,” she said.
Although they can’t be sure, doctors believe Charlotte’s SJS was triggered by lamotrigine, which she started taking two months earlier.
I could feel the bone at the top of my mouth because my gums had died
Charlotte Gilmour
According to DermNet, SJS is most likely to happen within the first eight weeks of taking medication.
Symptoms usually start with headaches, joint pain and cough, followed by a rash, says the NHS.
It often looks like a target, with an area of purple or dark skin surrounded by lighter skin.
Moist areas of tissue, such as the eyes, inside the mouth and throat, may also have blisters and ulcers.
SJS requires hospital treatment. This usually includes intravenous fluids, pain relief, topical steroids, and antibiotics.
There are an estimated six cases per million people each year in the UK, according to a 2017 study.
It has a mortality rate of between five and 40 percent, depending on the part of the body affected.
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What is Stevens-Johnson syndrome?
Stevens-Johnson syndrome is a rare but serious skin reaction, usually caused by taking certain medications, often epilepsy medications, antibiotics, and anti-inflammatory pain relievers.
It is named after the two doctors who described it at the beginning of the 20th century.
It can be life-threatening, so it requires immediate hospital treatment.
Symptoms usually start with flu-like symptoms such as high temperature, sore throat, cough and joint pain.
A rash usually appears a few days later, spreading from the upper body to the face, arms, legs and genitals.
You may also have blisters and sores on your lips, inside your mouth and in your eyes.
Hospital treatment usually includes fluids to prevent dehydration, creams and dressings to moisturize the skin, strong pain relievers to relieve discomfort, and medications to control inflammation and prevent infection.
It may take several weeks or months to fully recover.
Source: NHS
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